Macro Toolworks

Macro Toolworks

Macro Toolworks

Automate repetitive tasks with this easy to use macro software.

Macro Toolworks is a powerful all-in-one automation software for Windows. It allows users to record macros, create macros in a easy to use macro editor, and playback macros in any Windows application or web page. Each macro can be triggered multiple ways depending on the user's needs: by autocomplete capability, by text shortcuts, keyboard hot-keys, mouse clicks or other mouse events, time scheduler, file/folder changes, from user defined tool bars, etc. Macros recorded in the recorder (both keyboard and mouse events are recorded) can be manually edited and optimized. Macros can simply mimic user behavior by sending Windows keys and mouse clicks or they can do even more complex repetitive daily tasks such as file backups and other file manipulation, fill web forms, send/receive e-mails, manipulating registry, insert/retrieve data to/from Excel files, download/upload files, zip and encrypt files and folders, and much more...

The Macro Toolworks automation software is available in three editions (Macro Toolworks, Free Edition / Macro Toolworks, Standard Edition / Macro Toolworks, Professional Edition). They differ in capabilities and price. Use this table to compare the edtions.

Version 8.6.2 - September 25, 2018

Improvement: Time scheduler for "repeat every X seconds/minutes/hours" was improved to allow numbers bigger than 60 seconds/60 minutes/24 hours". Now it is possible to schedule a macro that will start every 900 seconds.

Improvement: The command <printer_setdefault> now requires the printer name parameter enclosed in quotes (such as <printer_setdefault>("Print to PDF")). This prevents the problems when the printer name contains brackets ().

Fix: There was a problem with macros containing a key sequence that was used as a hotkey for other macro. Such sequence was not properly played back.

Version 8.6.1 - July 16, 2018

Added new _vCursorPosX and _vCursorPosY system variables that contains position of the blinking edit text cursor.

Fixed the problem when a text shortcut was not recognized after a mistype was corrected using back space.

Fixed the installer to properly indicate the version installed (currently 8.6.1).

Fixed the problem that in some cases caused macro recorded in Free edition was not properly played back.

Version 8.6.0 - June 25, 2018

Added an option to control the time delay when clipboard content is restored after the macro finished execution. The option allows to set the delay in milliseconds. This option is available in "Program Settings" on "More..." button.

Added an option to fully control keystrokes cadence. The option allows to define a delay after a defined number of keystrokes is sent. This option makes it possible to slow down the keystrokes sending if the program is used to run macros on remote desktop. The option is available in "Program Settings".

Added support for time & date in ISO format (yyyy-mm-ddThh:mi:ss) in macro commands. This format replaces the proprietary "_for_calc" format.

Added an option (Pro only) to define what macro files to be loaded on the program startup.

Improved macro text syntax checking. The macro that contains macro commands that are not supported in Free edition will not execute at all.

<macromenu> command was improved by -2 parameter that cause the menu is placed in the center of foreground window or in the center of computer display.

Fixed a bug that caused that it was possible to delete password protected macro group.

Fixed a problem that caused menus in Adobe Animate did not work.

<fileinfo> command was fixed to work with relative paths to files.

Fixed a bug that caused macro file was not marked "dirty" when macro enable/disable menu command was used.

Fixed a problem that caused clicking on the program tray icon did not do anything.

Many smaller improvements and fixes.

Version 8.5.0 - March 23, 2018

Added support for French language (thanks Bruno!).

It is possible to remove unwanted clipboard formats from clipboard macros (and make them smaller).

Macro clipboard preview was improved.

New command <clp_replace_text> was added. The command allows to replace portion of the text in clipboard. The command supports wildcards and regular expressions.

It is newly possible to specify parameters for clipboard macros executed using <run> command. The parameters allow to replace text in the clipboard macro before the clipboard macro content is pasted in other application. Wildcards and regular expressions are supported.

Macro file save operation was improved so that the previous macro file is preserved (it is located next to the macro file and has .prev extension).

Text replace feature in the macro editor was improved by supporting wildcards and regular extensions. It is now possible to replace/remove also macro commands such as <wx>(431), <mm>(13,242), etc. that are produced during macro recording.

If macro does not have name assigned then macro description (if set) or macro text is shown instead in macro menus (menus that are open when user is about to pick one macro to run from multiple).

It is possible to use application global or system variable in the macro name.

Added an option to start the program "as administartor". Some programs (Firefox, for example) do not cooperate with Perfect Keyboard and Macro Toolworks if they are not started "as administrator".

Fixed a problem with searching for macro groups.

Macro recorder was fixed to record real-time information also in case mouse movements are not recorded.

Fixed the crashing of the program when macro trigger (text shortcut) was changed.

Fixed the problem that the program did not properly scale based on the DPI settings (user changes text size in Windows Display Settings).

The clipboard text history (system variables %_vClpText0%, %_vClpText1%, etc.) was fixed so that the history is only updated if the new clipboard content is text.

There was fixed a problem when additional unexpected characters where inserted (when macro inserted text through clipboard or when <clppastetext> or <clpput> commands were used).

Fixed a problem with entering some dead-key characters from international keyboards (US International, Portugese, etc.).

Other minor fixes an changes.

Version 8.4.2 - February 5, 2018

Fixed a problem with entering dead key characters for languages that have them (such as Spanish).

Fixed a problem that caused the Windows to freeze for a short period of time (for example, when macro command was trying to open a file located on non-existing network location).

Fixed a problem with hot-keys when multiple macro files are open in the software.

Fixed the problem when Ctrl and/or Alt key remained "pressed" after user locks/unlocks Windows using Ctrl+Alt+Del.

Fixed a bug when saving a new macro file for the first time.

Fixed a problem when running .mcr files.

Fixed a problem when users that do not have admin rights could not change "Start automatically" option in the program settings.

Version 8.4.1 - January 7, 2018

Fixed problem when macro recorder was recording keys that were actually not pressed.

Fixed a bug in <filedel> command.

Help file now shows in what program edition a particular command is available.

Hints window fixes.

Several other smaller changes and fixes.

Version 8.4.0 - December 1, 2017

It is possible to right-click on macro file tab in the main window. The context menu allows to close the tab or to open the location where the macro file is located.

The behavior of the "minimize" button in the main window upper right corner is changed so that the main window is just minimized to Task bar (not hidden to tray as in previous versions). Behavior of the "close" button remains unchanged - the main window is completely hidden to tray.

Searching across macros (F3) was improved so that if the searched text is present in the macro text then the text found in the macro is highlighted.

It is prevented that macros file of the same name cannot be open.

Fix: When trying to start the program and it is already running then the main program window is shown on the screen.

Fix: Alt+numpad numbers inserts correct character.

Fix: If macro execution fails (for example when trying to open non existing file in <execappex> command) then it is guaranteed that main window is shown and the error message displayed so that the program does not stay "locked" and "hidden".

The hints window was fixed to properly delete part of the shortcut typed when macro is started using the hints window.

Version 8.3.5 - April 29, 2017

It is possible to package additional files when generating an executable file. This feature allows to distribute icons, configuration or any other data needed in macros within the generated executable.

Added a <data_crypt> command. The command allows to encrypt/decrypt a text input using AES 256-bit algorithm. This can be used to secure data macros work with.

Password parameter was added to <data_load> and <data_save> command. This allows to encrypt textual data saved to a file using password and decrypt the data when data is load from file.

Version 8.2.5 - December 13, 2016

Added: Option to <clpsave> command to save clipboard content to .txt file (plain text is saved from clipboard) or to image files .bmp, .png, .jpg, .gif (image from clipboard is saved to file).

Added: Option to <clpload> command to load to clipboard text from .txt file or to load to clipboard an image file from .bmp, .png, .jpg, .gif file.

Added: <space> command that just inserts a space to text.

Added: Mouse cursor position window. This feature was removed in version 8 but many user were missing it a lot. Now it is back available in "Tools/Show mouse cursor position" menu.

Fixed: Import from XML did not properly update the view.

Fixed: Free Macro Player did not correctly handle <-include-> command.

Fixed: Content of forms (<form_show> command) did not fit to window properly.

Several smaller fixes.

Version 8.2.0 - October 3, 2016

The program is installed to Program Files (x86) folder and macro files are located in user "Documents" folder. This change only applies to new fresh installations (the change has no effect to upgrades).

Fixed a problem when text shortcuts did not work properly in some applications (for example Chrome) when expand key other than space bar was used.

If user does not have administration rights and the admin rights are needed then the Macro Toolworks shows a dialog box asking for admin rights. (For example, when changing "Start on the Windows startup" option.)

Syntax auto complete did not work when multiple macro files were open. Fixed now.

Leading and ending spaces are now automatically trimmed from text shortcuts.

Fixed a problem when a hint window was showing in Free edition of the software.

The <varset> command (Variable SET) was modified to use "_OR_" delimiter instead of "|" when setting a list of possible values. This solves the conflict with Window Identification Path (WIP) that also uses "|" delimiter.

The <display_findimage> command was fixed to properly work with different DPI settings on different monitors on multi-monitor systems. It is still needed that the image to search for is captured with the same DPI the monitor has.

Window picker (available for example in <actwin> command editor when clicking on "..." button) now allows to pick both currently active window (the window that receives keyboard input) or the window pointed by mouse.

A bug that caused in some cases that <wwwopen> command was showing a "busy" error window was fixed.

Fixed the problem when running a macro (by expanding a text shortcut, for example) caused inserting the current clipboard content instead of macro content.

Several smaller fixes.

Version 8.0.7 - May 08, 2016

Alphabetical sorting of macro buttons in toolbars is now case insensitive.

Fixed: Newly added macro is properly sorted in macro toolbar.

Fixed: In some cases title bar was showing "unregistered" even if the program was properly registered.

Changed: Mouse, date, and keyboard properties open from the program "Tools" menu now open Windows 10 settings.

Fixed: Import of the macros from .txt file.

Fixed: <-include-> command failed if there was other <-include-> command in comments section.

Version 8.0.6 - April 18, 2016

<email> command is fixed.

Macro group is automatically selected in the macro group tree when a macro is selected in the macro list (for example, when "Go to Last Executed Macro" is used).

"Free macro text" editor is fixed by adding scroll-bars.

Macro name and macro group hierarchy is displayed in the main window status bar.

Version 8.0.5 - April 3, 2016

Added a command <regex_find> that allows to search in text using regular expressions. Can be used to find an arbitrary e-mail address, date, time, IP address, etc. in a text.

Added clipboard trigger that can start a macro when content of the clipboard has changed or was deleted.

Fixed: If text is passed through clipboard during macro playback then the keystrokes sending speed option in macro configuration does not affect how quickly the macro text is "pasted" to the target application. In previous versions the "Slow" option for keystrokes sending speed caused also the paste was slow.

Fixed: New lines (enter "characters") in macro group description field do not cause macro file corruption.

Changed: The program is installed by default to user application data folder (instead of "Program Files").

Fixed: Macro toolbars submenus creation is fixed. In previous version an attempt to create a submenu button was reverted to normal button.

Fixed: When floating toolbar has an "auto-hide" set to "on" then it is not auto-hiding when there is a submenu opened from this toolbar. The toolbar auto-hides again after the submenu is closed.

Improved "paste through clipboard" option so that passing macro text using clipboard is faster and more reliable - sometimes it happend that instead of macro text the last text in clipboard was pasted.

Improved reliability of "file" and "directory" triggers - all triggers fires properly does not matter if the file or directory was changed/created/deleted when other macro was running.

Fixed a problem that caused "clipboard macro" data were on certain circumstances lost from macro file.

Flying macro toolbars are improved so that they can now attach also to child windows title bar (were attaching only to main window title bar before).

Logging functionality was extended so that more information - for exmaple macro trigger that started macro - is logged.

Macro recorder was fixed to record macros more reliably. Especially options ("coordinates relative to active window" + "watch active window") that allow to record most reliable macros were significantly improved.

<waitfor> and <if_win> commands were fixed to properly work with currently active window field that is receiving keyboard inut.

All executables in the installation file are digitally signed now.

Version 7.5.3 - June 24, 2012

Added multi-line edit field option to <form_item> command.

Added a "from" field to <email_smtp_sendmail> command.

Added "wait for web browser is loading" option to <waitfor> command. This option allows to wait until web browser finishes loading of a web page after a link is clicked.

Fixed a problem when text shortcuts did not properly react in Excel, OneNote and perhaps other programs.

Fixed a problem when folder/file triggers (run macro when new file is created, etc.) did not work with network shared folders (\\server\myfiles\).

Version 7.5.2 - May 14, 2012

Fixed a newly introduced problem with macro hot-keys.

Fixed a problem when multiple instances of the program could be started.

Fixed a problem when macro syntax was false recognized as invalid.

Version 7.5.1 - May 04, 2012

Fixed a problem that if program was locked using password this lock state was not persisted and the program was automatically unlocked after reboot.

Added "confirm password" field to "lock mode" dialog.

Improved new version notification window. It is possible to directly download new version or go to this page to read what is new first.

Fix: "Follow case" feature is fixed for text shortcuts that do not begin by a letter (for example text shortcuts like ".a1" or "-sca").

Fix: <if_str> command fixed so that strings can contain brackets.

Fix: Windows browser button in <win_findimage> editor fixed.

And more smaller fixes and changes...

Version 7.4.7 - July 7, 2010

Changes & fixes:

Macro syntax checker fixes

Macro named "_xSharedMacroFileNotFound" (if exists) is called when shared macros file cannot be loaded (does not exist). If this macro is called then the error message is not showing. The macro is intended to allow programatically handle the situations when shared macro file is not accessible (network server down, for example).

Startup macros various fixes

Problem with windows loosing keyboard focus before macro was started was fixed

Installation program is now checking whether a Macro Toolworks family program is running.

Fixed a problem with running VBA-like script (the bug introduced in 7.4.5).

Improved speed of some keystrokes.

Improved clipboard related commands.

A few additional smaller fixes.

Version 7.4.5 - March 27, 2010

Changes & fixes:

Significantly improved "send macro text through clipboard" feature. This feature can be now used also for macros containing macro commands without any limitation.

New "How to send macro text to target application:" option added to settings dialog box. The user can select between "As keystrokes sequence" or "Using clipboard". This option is used as a default for each macro.

<varout> command updated.

"Macro Properties" tab was simplified by moving more advanced and rarely used options to a dialog box accessible using new "More" button.

Link to web page with macro examples was added to "Macro Text" tab.

<if...> command fixes.

<winclose> command fixes.

<var_oper>(...,CALC_EXPRESSION,...) command fixes.

<email_smtp_sendmail> command extended with "port" and "SSL" attributes so that the command now can send e-mails using GMail SMTP server.

Expressions evaluation fixes.

New "_vSharedMacros_ReloadNow" system variable. <varset>("_vSharedMacros_ReloadNow=YES","") command causes the shared macro file is reloaded. Shared macro file reload now can be controlled programmatically using a macro.

New "_vOpt_SharedMacros_Enable" system variable. <varset>("_vOpt_SharedMacros_Enable=YES","") command causes the shared macro file is enabled while <varset>("_vOpt_SharedMacros_Enable=NO","") command causes the shared macro file is disabled.

New "_vOpt_SharedMacros_File" system variable to programmatically set shared macros file. <varset>("_vOpt_SharedMacros_File=c:\macroFiles\shared.4tw","") command causes the shared macro file is set to "c:\macroFiles\shared.4tw".

<clpput> command enhanced so that it can put also file shortcut to the clipboard. Example: <clpput>("FILE:c:\temp\file.txt") command puts shortcut to "c:\temp\file.txt" file to clipboard so that the file then can be copied using Windows Explorer "Paste" menu command.

Additional minor fixes.

Version 7.4.0 - December 2, 2009

Changes & fixes:

<display_findimage> - it is possible to define multiple images to search for using wildcards (* and ?). Searching for multiple images on the screen is much faster then doing this by multiple <display_findimage> calls.

<win_findimage> - the same improvement as <display_findimage> above.

Added an option "Run as administrator" to the "Run macro in separate process" settings. This allows to run macro "as administrator" (with higher priority) on Vista and newer. The higher priority is necessary for certain operations Windows (the operations that were not restricted in XP and older - write to some registry locations, block keyboard and mouse, etc.).

Macro search dialog remembers last searched term.

Fixed a problem with starting program with parameters from network drive.

Fixed a problem when program did not responded correctly if CPU was overloaded.

Fixed a problem with entering characters with diacritic.

Macro ToolsWorks was renamed to Macro Toolworks.

A bug that caused scheduled macro were not started (a bug introduced in 7.3.8/7.3.9) was fixed.

Fixed: A wrong macro was executed when picked from a list/menu of macros with the same shortcut.

Smaller installation program fixes.

"Change multiple macros" was changed so that also text with multiple lines can be used.

Alt+A hotkey can be used to activate "Commands and System Variables" window.

"_vFileDate..." system variables fixed.

Other smaller changes and fixes.

Version 7.2.0 - November 15th, 2008

Changes & fixes:

German/Deutsch language added.

Macro execution speed improved.

Support for multiple monitors added: Multiple _vMonitor... system variables added.

Key codes (KC:XXX) can be used in <waitfor> and <if_key> commands. KC:XXX is showing in main window bottom right area when a key is hit - this is how user can get KC for particular key on keyboard.

WIP (window identification path) fixes.

F2 or click on macro in main window list enables edit macro name directly within the list.

"Find image" commands behavior changed so that the commands do not fire an error when the image is not found. The commands only return -1 instead of image position.

<macromenu> command was fixed so that the menus correctly react to key shortcuts.

<macromenu> changed so that items can be sorted either alphabetically or by user defined order.

Some fixes in help file.

Small import/export fix.

<run_ctxcommand> now supports also network paths (\\server name\...).

Hints window reworked. It can be brought up using hot key even if it is disabled for automatic showing.

Groups drag & drop enhanced so that if Ctrl key is held down a group can be moved as a child to other group.

Enable/Disable trigger hot key.

_vCurrTime_Second and _vCurrTime_Minute was changed so that always provide two digits numbers (01 instead of 1).

If a macro execution is paused (by <pause> command or by user) the the execution can be exited directly in this pause state.

<msg> command was enhanced so that it does not hide even if there are multiple subsequent macro calls using <run> command.

Program crash a new macro creation was fixed.

Extended hotkeys behavior improved.

<exitmacro_soft> to exit just a subsequent macro called using <run> command was fixed.

"Replace all" dialog box in macro editor fix.

WIP (Window Identification Path) fixed so that also Window class and title starting with # can be used.

Fixed problems when macro is outputing data using clipboard.

Many other smaller changes and fixes...

Version 7.1.1 - August 6th, 2008

Fixes:

<macromenu> command fixes.

Rare text shortcut expansion problem fixed.

Some other minor fixes.

Version 7.1.0 - July 28th, 2008

New features & fixes:

Multilanguage support. In "Languages" subfolder there are .ini files (lang_components_XXX.lang.ini and lang_main_XXX.lang.ini) that contain all texts used in the program. Making copy of the .ini files and translating the texts inside is all that is necessary to create new language pack.

Added <display_captureimage> and <win_captureimage> commands that allow to capture computer screen or its defined part to a bitmap file.

Items in <macromenu> menu are sorted alphabetically now.

New parameters to <wwwopen> and <www_fillform> added so that the commands can use the same browser window (that can be close then using <winclose> command).

Clipboard content is saved and restored when clipboard macro or macro with "Through clipboard" option is executed.

New option that allows to show macro toolbar with auto-hide option turned on only if CTRL key is pressed.

Fixed problems with DDE data exchange between Basic Script and main program.

Fixed problem running Basic Script programs from FreeMacroPlayer.

Fixed disabling/enabling triggers using hotkey.

Fixed the problem when macro parameters were still kept internally in the program after macro execution was finished.

Fixes in help file.

Many other smaller changes and fixes...

Version 7.0.1 - March 7th, 2008

New features & fixes:

<display_findimage> and <win_findimage> fixes. The commands are now tolerant to slight differences between the original and recognized images.

Fixed: these commands did not provide correct results when used repeatedly: <ini_file_read>, <email_pop3_getlist>, <email_pop3_getmail>, <extcmd>.

Help file fixes and updates.

Keystrokes playback fixes.

Robustness improvements.

Version 7.0.0 - 02/01/2008

New features & fixes:

Macro file can be optionally protected by a strong AES encryption.

<file_encryption> - a command to AES encrypt/decrypt any file.

<dir_encryption> - a command to AES encrypt/decrypt all files in a directory including all subdirectories.

<extcmd> - run external command. External command is any command line executable that takes parameters (optionally) and prints results to standard output (optionally). The command allows customers to extend number of available macro language commands.

<remote_macro_call> - a command that allows to run macro on remote machine. (A Macro Toolworks family product needs to run on the remote machine.) It is possible to pass parameters to the remote machine and the macro executed on the remote machine can return a result back to the caller.

Build-in support for running macros from a remote computer.

<www_fillform> - a command that allows to fill a web form (for example password entries) automatically.

Macros started using <run> or <extmacro> commands can take parameters and return results.

New "_vMacroResult" system variable. This variable is used to pass results back to the caller (if the macro was called using <run> command, for example).

New "_vMacroParameter" system variable. This variable is used to pass parameters to the called macro (if the macro was called using <run> command, for example).

Native support for date/time arithmetic's. It is possible to count: date/time = date/time+span or date/time = date/time - span or span = date/time-date/time.

UI improvements based on user's feedback.

Bugs reported by users are fixed.

User interface was improved and simplified.

The program is compatible with Windows Vista.

FreeMacroPlayer (free to anyone) that allows to playback macros created in Macro Toolworks.

Multiple triggers per macro - trigger macro multiple ways.

New "auto-text" trigger.

<file_zip> command allows a user to put multiple files to a single .zip archive file.

<file_unzip> command allows a user to retrieve files from a .zip archive.

<display_findimage> command allows a user to quickly find a section on the computer display that looks exactly the same as an image defined. The command allows a user to write macros that have "eyes". The command can be used to find controls or web links and then move mouse cursor to such a position.

<win_findimage> the same as <display_findimage> but the program searches only in the defined window.

<form_show> command takes additional x, y, parameters that position the form on the computer screen.

<filecopy> command significantly improved. The command can show progress window and has new parameters: (i) number of retries if the operation fails, (ii) the command returns number of successfully copied files and the number of failures, (iii) the command logs all failures in textual report file.

<dircopy> - the same improvements as <filecopy>.

<filemove> - the same improvements as <filecopy>.

<dirmove> - the same improvements as <filecopy>.

<execappex> command takes new (optional) parameter that allows the macro execution to wait until the program started by <execappex> finishes execution.